Lapique CEO Lee Beom-joo Receives Presidential Commendation for Materials and Components Industry Advancement

Lee Bum-joo, CEO of Rapheque, Leading K-Beauty Material Innovation, Achieves Presidential Commendation for 'Contribution to the Materials, Parts, and Equipment Industry'! Lee Bum-joo, CEO of Rapheque, a specialized R&D company for cosmetics, recently received the Presidential Commendation for 'Contribution to the Development of the Materials, Parts, and Equipment Industry' at the '2025 K-Tech Inside Show' hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, proving his role as a key leader driving innovation in the domestic beauty material industry. This award is an honor given to companies and individuals who have contributed to the development of the Materials, Parts, and Equipment (sobujaang) and foundational industries, and Rapheque clinched this award with its unique technological prowess. Established in 2017, Rapheque has built a beauty material technology platform that transforms discarded or undervalued resources such as plant matter, food by-products, and marine resources into high-value cosmetic ingredients. In particular, through the development of original technologies such as plant softening technology, softened plant bioconversion technology, upcycled beauty, and upcycled exosomes, Rapheque has been recognized for significantly contributing to not only the self-reliance of domestic cosmetic ingredients but also import substitution and export expansion. Rapheque has strengthened its market competitiveness by completing an integrated system that encompasses the entire process from material exploration to raw materialization, formulation development, production, commercialization, and export. It has continued steady growth through the supply of ODM (Original Development Manufacturing) products incorporating its proprietary technology and the development of regionally specialized cosmetics. In the first half of this year alone, it recorded sales of 8.2 billion KRW and operating profit of 1.6 billion KRW, achieving remarkable results that already surpass last year's annual performance. In his acceptance speech, CEO Lee Bum-joo stated, “I am delighted to be recognized for the value of sustainable cosmetic ingredient technology development and the commercialization of upcycled materials,” and expressed his ambition, “Moving forward, we will dedicate ourselves to technological innovation and the expansion of the industrial ecosystem to advance the materials, parts, and equipment industry and strengthen K-Beauty’s global competitiveness.” Having secured growth momentum by successfully attracting 15 billion KRW in Series B investment last September, Rapheque plans to accelerate its entry into overseas markets such as Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East starting this year, strengthen exports of K-Beauty-based high-functional cosmetics, and expand its material platform technology into various industrial sectors. All eyes are on how Rapheque's innovative trajectory will transform the future of K-Beauty.